We rejoice with the psalmist this Sunday at the prospect of going “to the house of the Lord.” If your own travel plans take you through an airport this busy holiday weekend, you may find little to rejoice in. Aside from high travel volume, travel may be disrupted by passengers who plan to protest new security measures some call intrusive.

The new security measures include more intense physical pat-downs as well as the use of body scanners which some claim amount to a “strip search.” Facing criticism, the Transportation Security Administration said Monday that it would reconsider its policies on passenger screening, though there would be no immediate changes.

There are now about 385 full-body scanners at 70 airports in the United States, with 1,000 scanners planned by the end of next year. Many passengers are disturbed about the nearly-naked images created by the scanners (as well as the prospect of radiation exposure) and even more distressed with the thorough pat-downs for those who refuse to go through the machines.

Online videos documenting some of the searches have gone viral and spawned a loosely organized effort dubbed “National Opt-Out Day” that encouraged travelers to opt-out of the scans on Wednesday, one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.

Security officials respond that they are just trying to practice due diligence--the kind Jesus counsels in this Sunday’s gospel when he urges us to be alert and watchful for the thief who comes in the night--or in this case for the terrorist attempting to board a plane with a hidden bomb.

Undercover tests by government security experts factored into the Obama administration's decision to use a more thorough pat-down so that screeners can catch a bomb hidden in a traveler's underwear, such as the one a man attempted to detonate on a flight last Christmas Day.

Critics say there are other, less invasive ways to accomplish the nation’s security goals. They also criticized the lack of communication with the flying public about the new procedures.

Source: Articles by Jason Hanna and Marnie Hunter for CNN, Eileen Sullivan and Michael Tarm
for the Associated Press, and the New York Times